The ''Somerville Journal'' was a weekly

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

published in

Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81, ...

from 1870 until 2022.

Early history

The first issue of the ''Somerville Journal'' was published December 8, 1870, by W. A. Greenough & Company, known for publishing directories. During the next few years the paper changed ownership several times, early owners including Russell H. Conwell, then a Somerville resident, and

John A. Cummings John Adams Cummings (January 16, 1838 – January 6, 1887) was a Massachusetts politician who served as the fifth Mayor of Somerville, Massachusetts Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridg ...

, later mayor of the city. On October 20, 1876, the paper came under the control of the Somerville Journal Company, under the presidency of J. O. Hayden. Hayden later became president of two Somerville banks, and treasurer of Middlesex County."Hayden, Joseph Orlin"
Albert Nelson Marquis, ''Who's Who in New England: a biographical dictionary of leading living men'', 1915, page 526. Digitized by

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical c ...

. With the change of ownership, the paper, which had previously been printed in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, began to be printed in Somerville, first in an office on the third floor of the Hill Building in

Union Square Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

, then, in July 1894, in the Somerville Journal Building, built for that purpose. Other magazines printed in the Somerville Journal Building included the ''Journal of Education'', the ''American Primary Teacher'', and ''

The Writer ''The Writer'' is a magazine for writers, published monthly by Madavor Media. History ''The Writer'' was first established by William H. Hills and Robert Luce, two ''Boston Globe'' reporters, as "a monthly magazine to interest and help all lit ...

''.''Somerville, past and present''
by Edward Augustus Samuels, Henry Hastings Kimball, printed 1897, page 475. A founder of ''The Writer'', William Henry Hills, bought an interest in the Somerville Journal Company in 1890, and was reported as editor of the ''Journal'' and president of the Company in 1895."Hills, William Henry"
''

The National Cyclopedia of American Biography ''The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography'' is a multi-volume collection of biographical articles and portraits of Americans, published since the 1890s. The primary method of data collection was by sending questionnaires to subjects or the ...

'', 1895, volume 4, page 74. Digitized by

. The "Pencilings" column of the ''Journal'' became popular, with excerpts appearing in newspapers nationwide. It was started by George Russell Jackson, an editor of the ''Journal'', continued for a year by C. H. Hoyt, and then, from January 1885, by Hills."A staple of Journals past -- Pencilings"
, by Kathleen Powers, ''Somerville Journal'', Sep 12, 2007. Retrieved Mar 16, 2010.''

'', edited by William Henry Hills and Robert Luce, volume 42, page 315, 193

Digitized by Google Books. Other notable people associated with the ''Journal'' include Leon M. Conwell, later Mayor of Somerville, and

Barbara Galpin Barbara Galpin (, Johnson; February 6, 1855 – August 14, 1922) was an American journalist. For twenty-five years Mrs. Galpin was identified with the ''Somerville Journal'', serving as compositor, proof reader, cashier, editor woman's page and as ...

, one of the first women in the publishing business in Massachusetts. A rival newspaper, the ''Somerville Citizen'' was started in 1888, first in the Stickney Building on Pearl Street, and later moved to Gilman Square. It was united with the ''Somerville Journal'' in 1901.''The Story of Somerville''
Mary Alice Haley (1903). Online at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

, retrieved Mar 16, 2010.

Modern journal

By the 1980s the ''Somerville Journal'' had been acquired by the Dole Publishing Company, publishers of the ''

Cambridge Chronicle The ''Cambridge Chronicle'' is a weekly newspaper that serves Cambridge, Massachusetts. The newspaper was founded by Andrew Reid in May 1846 and is the oldest weekly newspaper in the United States.Cambridge Chronicle, May 30, 1996 Owned by Ganne ...

''. When Dole was acquired by

Fidelity Investments Fidelity Investments, commonly referred to as Fidelity, earlier as Fidelity Management & Research or FMR, is an American multinational financial services corporation based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in 1946 and is on ...

in 1991, it became the Bay State Newspaper Company, which in turn was merged into the

Community Newspaper Company Community Newspaper Company, or CNC, was the largest publisher of weekly newspapers in eastern Massachusetts in the 1990s and first decade of the 21st century. It also published several daily newspapers in Greater Boston. The company's propertie ...

in 1996. This was sold by Fidelity in 2001 to the ''

Boston Herald The ''Boston Herald'' is an American daily newspaper whose primary market is Boston, Massachusetts, and its surrounding area. It was founded in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States. It has been awarded eight Pulit ...

'', which sold it in 2006 to GateHouse Media. During GateHouse ownership, the former CNC papers took on the present "Wicked Local" branding. In 2019 GateHouse was merged with

Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.Media Consolidation Accelerates in Somerville
" Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, March 22, 2022, Retrieved May 16, 2022. Later editors include: * George Donnelly, 1987 to 1991
, retrieved Mar 16, 2010. * Kathleen Powers, 2000 to 2009 * Debra Filcman, 2009 to 2011"Filcman named editor of the Journal and Wicked Local Somerville"
, by Auditi Guha, ''Somerville Journal'', Jun 25, 2009 * Jillian Fennimore, 2011 to 2012 * Erin Tiernan, 2016 to 2017 * Kathryn Bowler, 2017 to 2018 * Julia Taliesin, 2018 to 2021 By at least 2018, editor Julia Taliesin was simultaneously the paper's only full-time reporter.Shira Laucharoen,
Julia Taliesin to Leave the Somerville Journal
" Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, May 11, 2021, Retrieved May 16, 2022.

Gallery

Somerville Journal Building 1897.jpg, The Somerville Journal Building, circa 1897 J. O. Hayden.jpg, J. O. Hayden, ''Somerville Journal'' publisher circa 1897

References

{{Newspapers in Massachusetts Defunct newspapers published in Massachusetts Newspapers established in 1870 Somerville, Massachusetts Gannett publications Publications disestablished in 2022